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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (May 25, 2021)
INSIDE QUINTET OF RECIPES ELEVATE THE HUMBLE CHICKEN | HOME & LIVING, 1B $1.50 TUESDAY EDITION May 25, 2021 Joseph La Grande eyes solutions to housing shortage offi cials to name names By DAVIS CARBAUGH The Observer City council may recommend sanctions in staff harassment case LA GRANDE — The city of La Grande and its planning commis- sion continue to deal with the shortage of aff ordable housing in the city. The La Grande City Council/Planning Com- mission Joint Work Session on April 12, 2021, looked at various solutions to the looming crisis. despite accounting for a smaller percentage of new housing units than the cur- rent housing stock. “We predominantly have contractors that build custom homes, one or two at a time,” Commu- nity Development Director Mike Boquist said. “We don’t generally have a large inventory of houses that are available for sale that are constantly under con- struction like they do in larger cities.” As it stands, about 25% of households in La Grande are under severe rent burden, meaning res- idents spend more than 50% of their income on housing. This also quali- fi es as a housing crisis. Fur- ther, aff ordable apartments and houses for rent are hard to come by in La Grande. According to the La Grande Housing Production Strategy Open House and Survey on Feb. 26, renters in La Grande are twice as likely to be cost burdened than homeowners, which is a telling sign. “We have a lot of land in our inventory here that’s available for construction, but just not a lot of vacant homes,” Boquist said. See, Housing/Page 5A Finding shelter at MERA By BILL BRADSHAW Wallowa County Chieftain JOSEPH — Offi cials with the city of Joseph announced they will iden- tify which members of the city council are on the receiving end of harass- ment allegations as well as recommendations for discipline. The Joseph City Council meets Thursday, May 27, for another emergency ses- sion that comes in the wake of multiple allegations of council members harassing city Eckstein employees. City hall sent out an agenda for the meeting that includes open and exec- utive sessions. The reg- ular meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Joseph Community Events Center, following an open budget hearing. During the executive session, city attorney Wyatt Baum and interim City Administrator Brock Eck- stein will discuss the alle- gations and make recom- mendations for discipline of councilors deemed guilty. An open session follows the closed-door meeting where the council can take action of the recommendations. “By next Thursday, names will be released and recommendations for pun- ishment will come from myself and the city attorney in open session,” Eckstein said during an interview with the Wallowa County Chieftain Thursday, May 20. “I can guarantee that for Thursday.” The allegations of harassment came to a head April 16 when former City Administrator/Recorder Larry Braden submitted his resignation citing “constant harassment by members of the current city council.” That came on top of a sim- ilar allegation in March by According to the Housing Needs Analysis in 2019, La Grande is in need of 800 new units within the next 20 years to compen- sate for a projected growth of 1,392 new residents. That’s about 40 new units every year to meet the prediction. The HNA found sin- gle-family homes will be the most vital form of housing in coming years, By DICK MASON The Observer UNION COUNTY — Exhausted hikers and mountain bikers at the Mount Emily Recre- ation Area now can recharge in a new building at the edge of Caf- feine Trail. The structure is not a coff ee shop but a large lean-to type of building that provides protec- tion from the sun and rain. For- rest Warren of Summerville con- structed the structure. He is a retired educator, a farmer and the Imbler Rural Fire Department’s assistant chief. “I thought this might be a nice addition,” Warren said. “It seemed like something was needed, so I said ‘Lets give this a try.’” The wooden structure is 12 feet by 16 feet with a metal roof 10 feet high at its top point. Warren said it is designed so vis- itors will receive shade in the summer because of a hillside to the west and much sun exposure in the winter because it faces south. “It will provide summer shade and winter sun,” Warren said. The shelter also is positioned so people looking south receive an excellent view of La Grande. Warren received funding help for the project from the Blue Mountain Singletrack Trails Club. “Its support was great. It made it happen,” he said. The shelter is 2 miles by trail from the Owsley Canyon Trail- head and where the Caff eine and MERA Loop trails con- nect. Warren chose the loca- tion because it is in the middle of MERA’s trail network for non-motorized uses. “It is super centralized,” Warren said. Jeff Crews, who helped deposit bark chips in the shelter on Saturday, May 22, agreed. “It is in the middle of every- thing,” Crews said. Warren said he spent “a long six days” constructing the shelter. Dick Mason/The Observer Left to right, volunteers Jeff Crews, Jonah Lindeman and Forrest Warren work Saturday, May 22, 2021, to complete a shelter at the Mount Emily Recreation Area near La Grande. The shelter will provide a place to have a picnic, get out of bad weather or rest and take in the scenic view. He said the help from several vol- unteers — Bart Barlow, Dave Larman, Micha Anderson, Tom Guthrie, Steve Stanhope, Dusty Fitzgerald and Ed Mosiman — played a big role in the comple- tion of the project. The shelter has a fi rst aid kit that includes splints and slings. Warren asks those who use the kit to call him so he can replace materials. “I have been an EMT for 21 years,” he said. “I am an avid believer in being prepared. First aid is huge.” Warren used live-edge siding on the structure so that it would look natural. Live-edge boards are cut to leave one side with the Dick Mason/The Observer natural curves of the tree. The Jeff Crews, left, Jonah Lindeman, center, and Forrest Warren move wood chips Sat- shelter’s wood slab seats, which urday, May 22, 2021, to the fl oor of a new shelter at the Mount Emily Recreation Area near La Grande. See, MERA/Page 5A See, Joseph/Page 5A Many work to help children in foster care Volunteers, donations are part of crucial programs supporting foster children By LISA BRITTON EO Media Group Editor’s Note This is the third of a three-part series on foster care needs in Baker, Union and Wallowa counties. The previous parts ran in the Thursday, May 20, and Saturday, May 22, editions of The Observer. There are nearly 6,000 children in foster care across Oregon, and sev- eral programs in Eastern Oregon support those chil- dren, and provide ways for the community to help, too. Every Child Oregon Every Child Oregon is a statewide initiative that INDEX Classified ...............3B Comics ....................7B Crossword .............4B Dear Abby .............8B partners with the Oregon Department of Human Ser- vices to “aid children in foster care and to support foster families.” Wallowa, Union and Baker counties are part of DHS District 13. Every Child Northeast Oregon, with Erin Taggart as pro- gram director, started serving this area in March 2020. The goals of Every Child include foster family WEATHER Home ......................1B Horoscope .............3B Letters ....................4A Lottery ....................3A THURSDAY Obituaries ..............3A Opinion ..................4A Sports ............. 7A, 8A State ........................6A recruitment, and working in the communities to sup- port volunteer projects. One project is My Neighbor. Taggart said this provides a place for caseworkers, foster par- ents, children and CASAs — court-appointed special advocates — to specify a need, such as bunk beds, clothing, shoes or sports clothes. Community mem- bers who register with My Full forecast on the back of B section Tonight Wednesday 40 LOW 72/47 Partly cloudy Sunny and warmer UNION COUNTY BUDGET HEARINGS Neighbor can log in and fi nd needs to fulfi ll. A recent project by Every Child updated DHS visitation rooms with new furniture. “To make it a little more home-like,” Taggart said. Every Child, she said, off ers community engage- ment either by accepting donations or with volunteer opportunities. Both off er See, Foster/Page 5A CONTACT US 541-963-3161 Issue 60 2 sections, 16 pages La Grande, Oregon Email story ideas to news@lagrande observer.com. More contact info on Page 4A. Online at lagrandeobserver.com
